Functional Analysis of Keratin-Associated Proteins in Intestinal Epithelia: Heat-Shock Protein Chaperoning and Kinase Rescue

Keratin 8 is a scaffolding and regulatory protein of ERAD complexes

Early recognition and enhanced degradation of misfolded proteins by the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) quality control and ER-associated degradation (ERAD) cause defective protein secretion and membrane targeting, as exemplified for Z-alpha-1-antitrypsin (Z-A1AT), responsible for alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency (A1ATD) and F508del-CFTR (cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator) responsible for cystic fibrosis (CF). Prompted by our previous observation that decreasing Keratin 8 (K8) expression increased trafficking of F508del-CFTR to the plasma membrane, we investigated whether K8 impacts trafficking of soluble misfolded Z-A1AT protein. The subsequent goal of this study was to elucidate the mechanism underlying the K8-dependent regulation of protein trafficking, focusing on the ERAD pathway. The results show that diminishing K8 concentration in HeLa cells enhances secretion of both Z-A1AT and wild-type (WT) A1AT with a 13-fold and fourfold increase, respectively. K8 down-regulation triggers ER failure and cellular apoptosis when ER stress is jointly elicited by conditional expression of the µ_s heavy chains, as previously shown for Hrd1 knock-out. Simultaneous K8 silencing and Hrd1 knock-out did not show any synergistic effect, consistent with K8 acting in the Hrd1-governed ERAD step. Fractionation and co-immunoprecipitation experiments reveal that K8 is recruited to ERAD complexes containing Derlin2, Sel1 and Hrd1 proteins upon expression of Z/WT-A1AT and F508del-CFTR. Treatment of the cells with c407, a small molecule inhibiting K8 interaction, decreases K8 and Derlin2 recruitment to high-order ERAD complexes. This was associated with increased Z-A1AT secretion in both HeLa and Z-homozygous A1ATD patients' respiratory cells. Overall, we provide evidence that K8 acts as an ERAD modulator. It may play a scaffolding protein role for early-stage ERAD complexes, regulating Hrd1-governed retrotranslocation initiation/ubiquitination processes. Targeting K8-containing ERAD complexes is an attractive strategy for the pharmacotherapy of A1ATD.

Activation of PKB/Akt and p44/42 by mechanical stretch utilizes desmosomal structures and the keratin filament

BACKGROUND

Mechanical stress is an ubiquitous challenge of human cells with fundamental impact on cell physiology. Previous studies have shown that stretching promotes signalling cascades involved in proliferation and tissue enlargement.

OBJECTIVE

The present study is dedicated to learn more about cellular structures contributing to perception and signal transmission of cell stretch. In particular, we hypothesized that desmosmal contacts and the adjacent keratin filament build an intercellular matrix providing information about the mechanical load.

METHODS

Epidermal cells with different keratin equipment were seeded on flexible silicon dishes and stretched. As read out parameter the activation of PKB/Akt and p44/42 was monitored by Western blotting. Likewise desomosomal contacts were manipulated by depletion or addition of calcium. Moreover, desmoglein 3 and desmocollin 3 were blocked by either specific antibodies or siRNA.

RESULTS

It was found that the omission of calcium from the medium, a necessary cofactor for desmosomal cadherins, inhibited stretch mediated activation of PKB/Akt and p44/42. The relevance of desmosomes in this context was further substantiated by experiments using a desmoglein 3 blocking antibody (AK23) and siRNA against desmocollin 3. Moreover, disruption of the keratin filament by sodium orthovanadate also abrogates PKB/Akt and p44/42 activation in response to stretch. Likewise, KEB-7 keratinocytes harbouring a mutation in the keratin 14 gene and genetically modified keratinocytes devoid of any keratin show an altered signalling after stretch indicating the relevance of the keratin filament in this context.

CONCLUSION

Besides their important role in cell architecture our results identify desmosomes and keratins as mechanosensing structures.

Isolation of Intermediate Filament Proteins from Multiple Mouse Tissues to Study Aging-associated Post-translational Modifications

Intermediate filaments (IFs), together with actin filaments and microtubules, form the cytoskeleton - a critical structural element of every cell. Normal functioning IFs provide cells with mechanical and stress resilience, while a dysfunctional IF cytoskeleton compromises cellular health and has been associated with many human diseases. Post-translational modifications (PTMs) critically regulate IF dynamics in response to physiological changes and under stress conditions. Therefore, the ability to monitor changes in the PTM signature of IFs can contribute to a better functional understanding, and ultimately conditioning, of the IF system as a stress responder during cellular injury. However, the large number of IF proteins, which are encoded by over 70 individual genes and expressed in a tissue-dependent manner, is a major challenge in sorting out the relative importance of different PTMs. To that end, methods that enable monitoring of PTMs on IF proteins on an organism-wide level, rather than for isolated members of the family, can accelerate research progress in this area. Here, we present biochemical methods for the isolation of the total, detergent-soluble, and detergent-resistant fraction of IF proteins from 9 different mouse tissues (brain, heart, lung, liver, small intestine, large intestine, pancreas, kidney, and spleen). We further demonstrate an optimized protocol for rapid isolation of IF proteins by using lysing matrix and automated homogenization of different mouse tissues. The automated protocol is useful for profiling IFs in experiments with high sample volume (such as in disease models involving multiple animals and experimental groups). The resulting samples can be utilized for various downstream analyses, including mass spectrometry-based PTM profiling. Utilizing these methods, we provide new data to show that IF proteins in different mouse tissues (brain and liver) undergo parallel changes with respect to their expression levels and PTMs during aging.

Multiple roles for keratin intermediate filaments in the regulation of epithelial barrier function and apico-basal polarity

As multicellular organisms evolved a family of cytoskeletal proteins, the keratins (types I and II) expressed in epithelial cells diversified in more than 20 genes in vertebrates. There is no question that keratin filaments confer mechanical stiffness to cells. However, such a number of genes can hardly be explained by evolutionary advantages in mechanical features. The use of transgenic mouse models has revealed unexpected functional relationships between keratin intermediate filaments and intracellular signaling. Accordingly, loss of keratins or mutations in keratins that cause or predispose to human diseases, result in increased sensitivity to apoptosis, regulation of innate immunity, permeabilization of tight junctions, and mistargeting of apical proteins in different epithelia. Precise mechanistic explanations for these phenomena are still lacking. However, immobilization of membrane or cytoplasmic proteins, including chaperones, on intermediate filaments (“scaffolding”) appear as common molecular mechanisms and may explain the need for so many different keratin genes in vertebrates.